Disney can’t figure out why its $3K a night ‘Star Wars’ hotel flopped

[godisawesome]

That's not the purpose of Galaxy Starcruiser, tho'. It's a 2-day experience by design, it's not a Star Wars themed resort section of Disney where you come and go as you please at your own pace (though that probably would've been a more sustainable thing to do). From what I understand you can opt out of the immersive side of things and just enjoy the environment, but then what are you blowing all that money for?

It may simply not be sustainable at that particular purpose and timeline.

The Sleep No More MacBeth adaptation "experience" takes about three hours to complete and costs an appropriate amount that can still fund the show; cruises tend to take far more time, but again, they're cruises, and are again priced well enough to not lose their companies money (...often with a certain amount of dirty dealing in other areas, but I digress).

It might just be that the costs for a two-night emersion experience hit a spot that just doesn't match the necessary demand for the price they need.

[Zauriel]

Walt Disney Co. is reversing course on a nearly $900 million corporate campus and shutting down a costly new hotel amid growing tensions with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The campus would have relocated more than 2,000 employees around 20 miles outside of the Walt Disney World Resort to a town in Orlando called Lake Nona.

Disney Company wasted billions on not one but two unprofitable ventures.

Walt Disney must be spinning over in his grave.

They need to go back to basics and figure out how to recover from their financial losses.

[Jackalope89]

Disney Company wasted billions on not one but two unprofitable ventures.

Walt Disney must be spinning over in his grave.

They need to go back to basics and figure out how to recover from their financial losses.

They may be contemplating leaving Florida at the moment with all the crap DeSantis is throwing their way. They are making life difficult in the process for the bantha poodoo, but yeah.

[thwhtGuardian]

They may be contemplating leaving Florida at the moment with all the crap DeSantis is throwing their way. They are making life difficult in the process for the bantha poodoo, but yeah.

eh, they can't really pull up stakes.

[Jokerz79]

eh, they can't really pull up stakes.

Yeah, and plus go where? The whole point of Disney World being in Florida is it's on the East Coast but with weather that allows them to be open year-round. There isn't exactly a good southern choice if you're looking for a more progressive state there all pretty conservative it's just degrees.

More likely they'll lowkey fund candidates in Florida more friendly to them.

[Zauriel]

Yeah, Florida gets visited by a lot of hurricanes.

Texas? A lot of open land out there but the problem is Texas is even more conservative than Florida. Texas hasn't elected a democrat to the governorship or the White House in decades.

California? They already have a Disneyland.

I think it's possible to move Disney World to a Northern state and keep it open year-round.

After all Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo have a Disneyland. And those three cities are cold in the winter and get snow.

[thwhtGuardian]

Yeah, Florida gets visited by a lot of hurricanes.

Texas? A lot of open land out there but the problem is Texas is even more conservative than Florida. Texas hasn't elected a democrat to the governorship or the White House in decades.

California? They already have a Disneyland.

I think it's possible to move Disney World to a Northern state and keep it open year-round.

After all Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo have a Disneyland. And those three cities are cold in the winter and get snow.

It's just not moving, it's been built up for decades at this point.

[Zauriel]

Walt Disney planned to build a Disney park in St. Louis, Missouri that would have been the second Disney park, after Disneyland. The park was in development between 1963 and 1965.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_D...erfront_Square

According to wikipedia, Walt Disney may have been insulted after August Busch Jr. publicly called him crazy for thinking his park would succeed without selling beer.

[Jokerz79]

Paris took a decade to become successful it was a failure for years.

The Citizens of Virginia rejected the Disney's America Park stopping it from being built.

Disney Quest was a failure in Chicago.

Both expansions of Disneyland with WestCot and Port Disney had to be abandoned with WestCot becoming the smaller and way less impressive California Adventures. The reason was Orange Country stopped both expansions.

That's why Reedy Creek was such a dream for them over the last 50 years they didn't have to deal with bureaucracy whenever expanding.

Shanghai cost 5.5 billion. So, you have a huge cost then you have to find a friendly local government and community open to having one of the world's biggest tourist traps located in their town and city. Also, you have to be able to get acres and acres of real estate because you need both land for the park and the future development. Also, this usually involves dummy companies because once the word gets out Disney is buying land the price will go up. Oh, and all of this has to have decent and located near if not on the east coast.

While doing this you're going abandoned 4 of the biggest theme parks in America Magic Kingdom Disneyworld, Epcot, Disney's Studios, and Animal Kingdom along with the Water Parks. Also, all the infrastructure you spent half a century building.

Or option B fund new candidates in Florida.

I don't like Desantis but it's delusional to think Disney would leave Florida.

[Godzilla2099]

Either reduce the insane price or include more bang for your buck.

Disney made an expensive Star Wars Hotel. They should have offered promotions exclusive only to that hotel to attract customers. Sales on rooms of course, meet and greet Star Wars Actors, Merchandise/Collectibles you can only get there, its own rides, giving fast passes to other parks, and promotions (Star Wars Theaters showing movies you can only see there)

Disney seriously overestimated the amount of wealthy that would rent a Star Wars Suite. To be honest, I've seen far better looking hotels for a fraction of the price too. Finally, you also have Disneyworld right next door to you. This idea should have been something like a cruise line.

One last tidbit,the majority of Star Wars Fans prefer the Original Trilogy. The Sequel Trilogy Content definitely has the fewest fans.

[Zauriel]

Shanghai cost 5.5 billion. So, you have a huge cost then you have to find a friendly local government and community open to having one of the world's biggest tourist traps located in their town and city. Also, you have to be able to get acres and acres of real estate because you need both land for the park and the future development. Also, this usually involves dummy companies because once the word gets out Disney is buying land the price will go up. Oh, and all of this has to have decent and located near if not on the east coast.

While doing this you're going abandoned 4 of the biggest theme parks in America Magic Kingdom Disneyworld, Epcot, Disney's Studios, and Animal Kingdom along with the Water Parks. Also, all the infrastructure you spent half a century building.

Or option B fund new candidates in Florida.

I don't like Desantis but it's delusional to think Disney would leave Florida.

That's true. Disney World is the most visited theme park in the world.

Unlike Shanghai Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland has not made a profit in the last eight years and only made a profit in three out of the 18 years that it has been open.
HK government is already considering abandoning Disneyland.

Eight consecutive years without a profit has made Hong Kong Disneyland a bigger failure than Paris Disneyland.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...agement-voices

https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters...rdable-housing

[Zauriel]

Either reduce the insane price or include more bang for your buck.

Disney made an expensive Star Wars Hotel. They should have offered promotions exclusive only to that hotel to attract customers. Sales on rooms of course, meet and greet Star Wars Actors, Merchandise/Collectibles you can only get there, its own rides, giving fast passes to other parks, and promotions (Star Wars Theaters showing movies you can only see there)

Disney seriously overestimated the amount of wealthy that would rent a Star Wars Suite. To be honest, I've seen far better looking hotels for a fraction of the price too. Finally, you also have Disneyworld right next door to you. This idea should have been something like a cruise line.

One last tidbit,the majority of Star Wars Fans prefer the Original Trilogy. The Sequel Trilogy Content definitely has the fewest fans.

The guests, i hear, are not allowed to leave the hotel until their Star Wars experience booking has expired. So it's like a cruise. On an actual cruise, you can't leave the ship until it reaches port. Then the cruise is over. At least you get to feel sunlight and ocean breeze and smell the saltiness of the ocean on a ship.'

I hear that at a comic convention that nobody is cosplaying as anyone from the Sequel Trilogy.

[ChrisIII]

Also a lot of non-Disney parks in Orlando which attract tourists that could go to the Disney parks on part of their trip. Although occasionally they catch some controversy as well (Seaworld, mainly).

[Zauriel]

For this hotel to become profitable, all of the 100 cabins/rooms would have to be booked at all times. Sadly, due to low occupancy rate, shutdown is inevitable, unless they lower the price.

When Disney bought Star Wars, they simply saw it as a cash cow. They are milking it dry. So, what happens when the cow is out of milk? They kill it and look for a new cash cow.

Walt Disney is turning over in his grave over what his company has become today. It fell to corporate greed. He didn't want his park to be open only to one group of people. He wanted his park to be open to everyone.

Corporate greed is killing Disney.

Also a lot of non-Disney parks in Orlando which attract tourists that could go to the Disney parks on part of their trip. Although occasionally they catch some controversy as well (Seaworld, mainly).

Or, particularly, Universal

[80sbaby]

I hear that at a comic convention that nobody is cosplaying as anyone from the Sequel Trilogy.

As one who regularly goes to Momocon and Dragoncon in Atlanta, that's absolutely not true. Now of course the OT will have more fans than the ST. It's not really a fair comparison for a number of reasons, however.

I also think it's crazy to act like Walt wasn't all about corporate greed himself.